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FINALLY, PRAISE FOR HER VOICE RATHER THAN
HER LOOKS MAKES ANNA NETREBKO
A HAPPY DIVA -- "60 MINUTES" SUNDAY

It's not easy being pretty. Early in her career, it was soprano Anna Netrebko's beautiful smile and svelte figure that captured the compliments instead of her singing. Now the Russian opera diva is getting noticed for her voice and she couldn't be happier. Bob Simon profiles the young, rising opera star on 60 MINUTES, Sunday, Dec. 12 (7:00-8:00 PM, ET/PT) on the CBS Television Network.

"When I just started my career�of course I always [tried] to look very good," she tells Bob Simon. "I [would] change the dress all the time on the performance and people came to me and said, 'Oh, beautiful dress�and you look so beautiful.' That's it. I was so upset nobody [was] saying anything about my singing."

Her recording company is happy, too; sales of her work are higher than normal by classical music standards. The combination of her youth, beauty and singing has also enabled her to break through in the music video industry, where no opera star has gone before. In Europe her DVD was number one, ahead of pop stars like Beyonc� and Britney Spears.

This untraditional diva is turning the staid world of opera on it head and critics have noticed. They have cited her acting ability, stage presence, glamour and attitude as factors to be considered along with her voice.

So if the voice gives out, Netrebko says she isn't worried she'll have to clean floors again, her first job at the opera house. "If I would really get tired of [opera] and if I start to sing [poorly] I will just change�but I will not disappear�.You will see me somewhere," she tells Simon.